Monthly Archives: December 2014

The November Placed 100 was released today highlighting last month’s big movers in terms of foot traffic. November is always a critical month given Black Friday and the holiday shopping crush. Not surprisingly, many of the businesses with the biggest jump in the store visit rank were retailers.

Leading the charge was American Eagle Outfitters, who not only cracked the top 100 for the first time, but did so by moving up 17 positions to number 84. A host of other fashion retailers were also big movers including JC Penny (+17), Victoria’s Secret (+16), Marshall’s, Ross and Old Navy. Toys also made a big push as Toys ‘R’ Us was up 16 spots, also cracking the top 100 for the first time.

Foot traffic to stores selling electronics, the ever-popular holiday gift, were up across the board, led by Best Buy (+8), GameStop (+7), and mobile phone providers T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint.

Dropping in the store visit rankings this month were quick serve restaurants like Dairy Queen (-15), KFC (-10), and Domino’s Pizza (-9). Thanksgiving dinner this year, apparently was all home cooking. Travel related business such as gas stations and hotels saw declines in foot traffic, following the end of the busy summer travel months.

Placed and Kantar once again partnered to deliver the definitive Black Friday study measuring the impact of television advertising on driving customers into stores. The findings highlight the importance of pre-Thanksgiving advertising spend on generating foot traffic during this critical weekend.

As in any contest, some competitors do better than others. The results of this year’s study are no exception as mega-retailer Walmart used their massive scale to both outspend and outdraw its rivals. Spending north of $70 million, Walmart not only drew a 38% share of in-store shoppers but did so at the lowest cost per share of any retailer in the study.

By contrast, Target spent nearly as much as Walmart but drew nearly 2/3 less visitors over the 4 day period (a 13% share). It wasn’t all bad news for Target, however, as store traffic was up nearly 22% vs. the week prior.